Release: Gov. Kasich Washington Post Op-Ed: Loose Talk About War With North Korea is Irresponsible

Team Kasich2017-12-26 08:34:47

In his latest Washington Post op-ed, Gov. John Kasich makes the
case that the United States should end the war of words and talk
of war with North Korea without exhausting other proven options
to secure peace.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 26, 2017
Contact: xxx
In his latest Washington Post
op-ed, Gov. John Kasich makes the case that the United States
should end the war of words and talk of war with North Korea
without exhausting other proven options to secure peace.
Gov. Kasich served for eighteen
years on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. He was a key
supporter of President Ronald Reagan's national security policies
and played a role in every major national security effort that
helped end the Cold War. He then went to work helping transform
our military into a flexible force able to respond to more varied
threats, like those we face today.
Loose Talk About War With North
Korea is Irresponsible
"With tensions continuing to
build between the United States and North Korea, there's growing
talk by politicians and TV pundits that we are on the brink of
war. In truth, we shouldn't be anywhere close.
This increasingly hot war of
words - including loose talk about the probability of war - does
nothing to bring us closer to where we need to be on North Korea,
especially when military options short of war remain on the
table. In fact, with millions of lives at stake, waging a war of
words is a distraction from the serious task at hand. Any kind of
war - especially nuclear war - should not be an option until all
other options are exhausted. And, in the case of North Korea,
there are several roads not yet taken.
First, North Korea is not, as
some claim, "sanctioned-out." We are nowhere near to applying the
same type of restraints on North Korea that were successful in
bringing Iran to the negotiating table.
In fact, the breadth of sanctions
we have placed on North Korea to date are far less than what was
applied in earlier crises on Russia, Syria and Iran. While our
sanctions on North Korea have clearly escalated, we still have
the option to penalize and seize the assets of North Korea's
enablers in other countries that enable Pyongyang to evade the
full brunt of financial measures. We can expand our focus on
shipping and work with our allies to deny maritime insurance to
the vessels heading to or from North Korea. Last month, we
targeted sanctions on 20 such vessels. Many more North Korean
vessels are active and engaged in illicit activities beyond the
small number designated by the Treasury Department.
We also can do more to expose
those who use North Korean slave labor and to block any
remittances back to Kim Jong Un's regime.
Second, none of this will work
without more pressure to hold the reluctant Chinese government
accountable for the commitments it has made and to target more
Chinese entities that support the North Korean government. The
overwhelming majority of North Korea's trade - 90 percent - is
with or facilitated by China, and despite agreed-upon U.N.
sanctions, much of this economic activity continues. Actions
should include targeting a greater number of Chinese banks that
deal with North Korea, fining their U.S. subsidiaries and
freezing their U.S. assets.
This year, the international
banking transaction network, known as SWIFT, moved to prevent
North Korean banks from using the global messaging system to
facilitate international transactions, but that doesn't impact
Chinese banks that transact for the North Koreans. We should
consider expanding this ban to include Chinese banks with any
North Korean connections.
Finally, we need to ask: Where
are our allies on all of this? Instead of threatening a bilateral
war between the United States and the North Korea, we should be
working with allies - including South Korea and Japan - to
threaten increased multilateral pressure to choke the North
Korean regime. While economic sanctions have not proved to be
effective yet, they have not been fully exhausted and tested.
Part of the reason the previous administration succeeded in
bringing Iran to the table - regardless of the flaws of their
final deal - was due to internationally coordinated sanctions.
Thankfully, the U.N. Security Council has adopted three rounds of
such sanctions this year, including significant measures last
week.
With millions of lives hanging in
the balance, the last thing we need is to have politicians and
pundits predicting odds on the probability of war. It's neither
an accurate nor a helpful way to treat a complex international
challenge."
Read the original op-ed in the
Washington Post (here).
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In his latest Washington
Post op-ed, Gov. John Kasich makes the case that the United States should end the war of words and talk of war with North Korea without exhausting
other proven options to secure peace.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 26, 2017

Contact: xxx

In his latest Washington"Post op-ed, Gov. John Kasich makes the case that the
United States should end the war of words and talk of war with North Korea without exhausting other proven options to secure
peace.

Gov. Kasich served for eighteen years on the U.S. House Armed
Services Committee. He was a key supporter of President Ronald Reagan’s national security policies and played a role in every major national
security effort that helped end the Cold War. He then went to work helping transform our military into a flexible force able to respond to more varied
threats, like those we face today.

Loose Talk About War With North Korea is Irresponsible

"With tensions continuing to build between the United States and North Korea, there’s growing talk by politicians
and TV pundits that we are on the brink of war. In truth, we shouldn’t be anywhere close.

This increasingly hot war of words — including loose talk about
the probability of war — does nothing to bring us closer to where we need to be on North Korea, especially when military options short of war
remain on the table. In fact, with millions of lives at stake, waging a war of words is a distraction from the serious task at hand. Any kind of war
— especially nuclear war — should not be an option until all other options are exhausted. And, in the case of North Korea, there are
several roads not yet taken.

First, North Korea is not, as some claim, “sanctioned-out.” We are nowhere near to applying the same type of
restraints on North Korea that were successful in bringing Iran to the negotiating table.

In fact, the breadth of sanctions we have placed on North Korea to
date are far less than what was applied in earlier crises on Russia, Syria and Iran. While our sanctions on North Korea have clearly escalated, we
still have the option to penalize and seize the assets of North Korea’s enablers in other countries that enable Pyongyang to evade the full
brunt of financial measures. We can expand our focus on shipping and work with our allies to deny maritime insurance to the vessels heading to or from
North Korea. Last month, we targeted sanctions on 20 such vessels. Many more North Korean vessels are active and engaged in illicit
activities beyond the small number designated by the Treasury Department.

We also can do more to expose those who use North Korean slave labor and to
block any remittances back to Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Second, none of this will work without more pressure to hold the reluctant Chinese
government accountable for the commitments it has made and to target more Chinese entities that support the North Korean government. The overwhelming
majority of North Korea’s trade — 90 percent — is with or facilitated by China, and despite agreed-upon U.N.
sanctions, much of this economic activity continues. Actions should include targeting a greater number of Chinese banks that deal with North Korea,
fining their U.S. subsidiaries and freezing their U.S. assets.

This year, the international banking transaction network, known as SWIFT, moved to
prevent North Korean banks from using the global messaging system to facilitate international transactions, but that doesn’t impact Chinese
banks that transact for the North Koreans. We should consider expanding this ban to include Chinese banks with any North Korean
connections.

Finally, we need to ask: Where are our allies on all of this? Instead of threatening a bilateral war between the United States and the North
Korea, we should be working with allies — including South Korea and Japan — to threaten increased multilateral pressure to choke the North
Korean regime. While economic sanctions have not proved to be effective yet, they have not been fully exhausted and tested. Part of the reason the
previous administration succeeded in bringing Iran to the table — regardless of the flaws of their final deal — was due to internationally
coordinated sanctions. Thankfully, the U.N. Security Council has adopted three rounds of such sanctions this year, including significant
measures last week.

With millions of lives hanging in the balance, the last thing we need is to have politicians and pundits predicting odds on the
probability of war. It’s neither an accurate nor a helpful way to treat a complex international challenge."